


Tachycardia

by abluemountainashtardis



Series: Mercury Veins [4]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Gen, Non-Linear Narrative, Young Claudia, Young Sheriff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-28
Updated: 2017-09-13
Packaged: 2018-12-20 23:37:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Underage
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11931717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/abluemountainashtardis/pseuds/abluemountainashtardis
Summary: An abnormally rapid heart beat





	1. Chapter 1

Stiles was waved throng the precinct into his dad’s office easily. His dad grinned as he came in the door. Stiles waved.

 

“Hey dad.”

 

Stiles passed over a tupperware dish and slouched into a seat across from his dad, his dad grinned.

 

“Hey champ,” he greeted, sliding open his desk drawer and bringing out the cutlery that had been stashed in there.

 

“So...” Stiles said tapping his fingers on his chair. His dad eyeballed him.

 

“What did you do?”

 

“I... did nothing, and I'm insulted by your insinuation,” Stiles sniffed. His dad scoffed. “But...”

 

“Yes?”

 

“Maybe I'd like to hear a story,” Stiles answered.

 

His dad frowned, stabbing a piece of salad with ferocity. “What kind?”

 

“The true kind. About mom.”

 

His dad looked at Stiles, a little crease between his eyebrows.

 

“Tell me how you met her? When you first even saw her,” Stiles pleaded, leaning forwards.

 

His dad took a sip of his coffee and leaned back.

 

“Alright, it was here actually. She uh, she was soaked to the skin in the spring showers, wearing a thin day dress of some sort. You know she practically marched in here,” he said with a chuckle.

 

+

 

John glanced up as the door swung open and shut. A petite teen with brown hair plastered to her head and a little blue dress standing strong in the reception, dripping wet with a pair of heels in her hand. She scanned the room and spotted McKenzie, eyed him up and down then moved toward him intently. John stood.

 

“Can I help you, miss?”

 

She paused, glanced between them, then moved over to him.

 

“I need a little help,” she said leaning over his desk.

 

“What with?” he asked wryly.

 

“I'm lost. It's raining. My jeep broke down.”

 

“How terrible,” John said dryly. “Would you like me to call you a cab?”

 

“I don't have any money,” she replied. John raised an eyebrow. “Really, I'm looking for a good Samaritan.”

 

She shivered ever so slightly and John looked at her properly. Shaking ever so slightly, dark rings round her eyes, her shoulders set like she was ready for a fight. John sighed.

 

“Why don't you sit down. I'll get you a towel or something,” he said gesturing to a seat. She blinked, taken aback by the change in tone, but sat. John grabbed a hot cup of coffee and his jacket from the break room. “No towels, sorry,” he said draping the jacket over her shoulders. “Coffee? Heat up your hands, at least,” he said kneeling in front of her.

 

She took the cup and clung to it slightly, looking him up and down with a small amount of suspicion. “Thanks,” she replied, dropping her heels and leaning back in the chair.

 

“Where'd you break down?” he asked.

 

“Uhm, Laurieston Avenue?” she said sipping. “It's a big blue jeep, you can't miss it.”

 

“You walked from Laurieston? In those shoes?”

 

She gave him coy grin. “Would you believe they're my only pair?”

 

+

 

“That's a great story, dad. And you just married her three months later?”

 

“She asked me,” John admitted smiling into his food. “And I could never say no to your mother, not even on that first day.”

 

“Yeah, well, kinda hard to say no to a pregnant lady.” John looked up shocked. “Am I right?” Stiles asked. John just stared. Stiles cleared his throat. “Dad?”

 

John blinked, tears at the corner of his eyes. “Yeah, uh, yeah kiddo you're right.”

 

Stiles nodded slowly. “Cool. I love it when I'm right,” he breathed then stood up. “I'm gonna... I'm gonna go for a walk.”

 

“Stiles - "

 

“I'm fine, dad. Dad.” Stiles stopped for a moment and closed his eyes. He opened them when he felt his father's arms around him.

 

“I got you, it's okay, I've got you.”

 

Stiles hadn't noticed he was crying.

 

“How long have you - "

 

“July. I, I saw something, and then, I looked and I thought, then later I realised and - "

 

“Oh, kid, oh.”

 

Stiles could feel his dad tighten his hold.

 

“I'll want to... to talk, later. I mean. I – ”

 

“Yeah. I'll answer as many questions as I can but,” his dad drew back a bit to look Stiles in the eyes. “Your mother took some secrets to the grave.”

 

Stiles nodded before stepping back.

 

“I'm... I'm gonna visit her. Then I'll head home.”

 

“I'll get back around nine.”

 

“Okay. Yeah, yeah,” Stiles said nodding. “Later then.” He said walking past John.

 

“Stiles?” John said. “I asked her to put my name down as the father on the birth certificate,” he said. “I wanted you, I'm your dad not – ”  John took a breath. “We can get into it later but, you're mine. Alright? You're mine, in every way that counts.”

 

Stiles' heart was pounding. He wiped his eyes.

 

“I already knew that much old man. Can't get rid of me that quickly.”

 

John rolled his eyes. “Go see your mother. I'll be home as soon as I can, alright.”

 

“Okay.”

 

John stepped forwards and hugged Stiles a last time.

 

“Okay,” he said, and let Stiles walk out the door.

 

+

 

“A woman with only one pair of shoes? She must really be in trouble,” John chuckled. She laughed too.

 

“Oh yeah, I'm a regular damsel in distress,” she sighed, moving back her hair and staring into her coffee. She looked back up at John. John held her gaze. She swallowed, looked down again. John felt a protective urge swell up inside him. “I need to get to Morning Side Rentals, I'm meeting a landlord,” she said softly, like it was a secret. John nodded.

 

“What's the landlord's name?” he asked softly.

 

“Alistair Forrett?”

 

“I know the guy, let me phone him. It'll be fine.”

 

She stared at him for a moment before nodding. “Thank you.”

 

“It’s easy done,” he said moving to stand. She caught his wrist.

 

“I’m Claudia.”

 

“I’m Deputy John Stilinski,” he said smiling. “Pleasure to meet you Claudia.”

 

“John,” she said. Her hand was shaking. “Everything I have is in that jeep.”

 

John placed his hand over her’s - ice cold.

 

“I’ll handle it.”

 

Claudia nodded and closed her eyes, tears only visible from the close distance due to the rain on her face.

 

“I’m not really supposed to have caffeine.” John frowned. Claudia dropped her hand to her abdomen. “Not in my condition.”

 

“I see,” John said very slowly. “I’ll handle that too.”


	2. Chapter 2

 

It was dark out when the Sheriff managed back home. Stiles was sitting at the dining room table, that old cardboard box that John was certain he threw out sitting in front of him. Not unpacked, just sitting.

 

Like an unwanted visitor.

 

John sighed and switched on the coffee maker before heading upstairs to change and put his gun away safely. When he got downstairs the coffee was already made and sitting at the other side of the table. Stiles still sitting. John sat down across from him. Decided to start with the biggest of questions first.

 

“Whoever he was, he hurt her.”

 

Stiles waited with baited breath, staring at him. John couldn’t do this. Not dredge this up. Not with those eyes staring at him.

 

“I'm gonna get – ”

 

“You'll stay fucking sober.”

 

John froze, half up. He slowly dropped back down.

 

“For this, for once. After we can get rip roaring drunk, but please...”

 

He nodded. “Yeah,” he croaked looking at Stiles’ slightly desperate expression. He ran his fingers over the mug of coffee in front of him, glanced at the box. He sighed.

 

“You know, you were never supposed to find out. She was desperate to keep you... hidden I think. I'm pretty sure she was using a false name too. She was always looking over her shoulder, she – ”

 

John clenched his fists.

 

“She loved you. It was for love of you that she ran. She wanted you safe... I caught her at the bus station more than once.”

 

“She tried to leave?” Stiles asked.

 

“When you were still tiny. She would leave you with Mrs Thompson, from across the street, and just walk to the station. She would always come home without a fight though. Crumble the second she saw me, saw you.”

 

“Where did she come from?” Stiles asked.

 

“A cult, I think. She had some smattering of Russian too, and I could never really place her accent. Sometimes I would swear she was English, othertimes...” John shrugged, always confused by the lilt she would get in her voice when she was angry or excited.

 

“She never talked about...” Stiles shifted. “How I came about?”

 

His dad shook his head. “She was scared to. She would whisper about it, always when the sun was shining - like he could come out of the shadows and snatch her away. She was so young. She couldn't have been much older than you now.”

 

That more than anything made his heart clench. It wasn’t until much later he had figured that out.

 

“The doctor asked if she'd had head trauma when she was diagnosed. Apparently, for someone that young, they'd need to be smacked around for it to occur.”

 

Stiles stayed silent, letting him collect his thoughts, memories he’d put on the shelves of his mind and let gather dust.

 

“He was older, much older, she said that once to assure me. He's far older and grumpier than you, she said. Less dashing when he pulls a gun.”

 

Stiles looked as sick as John felt. “And she loved me anyway?”

 

John smiled.

 

“I think she loved you more than anyone can love anything.”


	3. Chapter 3

 

 

John rubbed his face, pushing paper around his desk.

 

“This is Deputy Stilinski speaking, how can I help?”

 

“It’s, uh, Claudia. From last week? You said to ring if I needed anything?”

 

John straightened up. “Yes miss. What’s the trouble?”

 

“Well…” she sighed. “It seems silly now but. I need some help. With moving and lifting things. And there’s this thing with my sink – which I _know_ I could do myself but I just can’t lie down on this floor the way I’d need to.”

 

John scratched his head with a pen.

 

“You need me to… move things? And fix your sink?” he asked incredulously. McKenzie snorted, eavesdropping. John threw the pen at him.

 

“I don’t know anybody.”

 

See, now John just felt bad.

 

“I’m sure I could manage something. Even bring a few friends to help.”

 

“I’d really appreciate it, but uh… Maybe just one or two friends. I can be skittish around new people, which doesn’t really help my predicament.”

 

John laughed.

 

“Sure thing, later today?”

 

-

 

“Thank god you came by.”

 

Claudia was sitting on the floor next to him eating a bag of chips while he crawled around on his stomach trying to find the pipe Claudia had described.

 

“Easy done.”

 

“I tried to do this myself earlier and the baby just started kicking like crazy, and I couldn’t reach the thing lying on my side, then my boobs started to hurt, and I cried for like two hours before I could even pick up the phone to call you. Hadn’t even gotten off the floor at that point.”

 

John raised a crazy eyebrow at her but she munched on happily, socks down around her ankles and her dress stretched a little too thin around her waist now.

 

“You’ll need to get new clothes soon.”

 

Claudia shrugged. “I put in some applications at some places. I’ll get a job soon enough.”

 

John thought that through and edged out of the space to look at her.

 

“No one’s… supporting you?”

 

“There is no one,” she said flat and brusque. She looked away from her chips and at him then grinned. “I depend on the kindness of deputies who can fix sinks.”

 

John shook his head. He’d never left this town let alone travel to a different country to start new.

 

“So where abouts you from? Strange accent you got,” John asked.

 

“Here and there. Travelled a lot. Yourself?”

 

“Born and bred here,” John replied, finding the pipe and turning the thing Claudia had told him to turn.

 

“A small town boy,” she said with a laugh.

 

“Hey now there’s nothing wrong with that,” he said pulling out from underneath and sitting back. Claudia smiled.

 

“I know. Why do you think I picked a small town?” she replied softly. John grinned and stood up, holding out a hand to help her up, pulling her up and close.

 

“Fixed the sink, I think.”

 

“My hero.”

 


End file.
